Drinking Borax Is The Newest TikTok Trend, And Medical Authorities Are Working To Disprove It

Like other social media platforms, TikTok has recently become a breeding ground for strange and dangerous phenomena. One of the more worrying developments is the usage of Borax, a common household cleaning chemical, as a purported health cure. Health professionals and medical officials are trying to debunk this alarming practice, which presents serious health dangers to consumers.

TikTok, a prominent video-sharing site, has seen more clips touting Borax as a miracle cure for various health concerns. Users claim in these videos that drinking small amounts of Borax dissolved in water can treat acne, digestive disorders, and even more serious conditions like arthritis and cancer.

Borax, often sodium borate, is a common insecticide and household cleaning. While it has some industrial and medical uses, it is unsuitable for human consumption. 

Uncovering TikTok's Borax Drinking Trend, From Viral Craze To Public Health Crisis

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Dr Kelly Johnson-Arbor finds herself dispelling a viral social media trend that could jeopardise people's health at least twice a month. This week's topic is Borax.

The powdered material is found in laundry detergent and is available as a cleaning agent. Boric acid, a distinct formulation of boron, is also used to kill ants and cockroaches.

Although Borax has been banned in food products in the United States, some people on TikTok have incorrectly claimed that adding a pinch to their water might reduce inflammation and help with joint pain or that soaking in borax in the bathtub could "detoxify" the body. Several TikTok stars with hundreds of thousands of followers advocated borax in videos that were later removed. 

Johnson-Arbor, a toxicology physician and the National Capital Poison Center's co-medical director, regularly produces pieces for the centre's website that correct the record on dangerous health fads.

She claims that ingesting Borax might cause stomach inflammation and result in blue-green vomit or diarrhoea. She claims that soaking in Borax can cause anaemia, convulsions over time, and rashes that make the skin seem as bright pink as a boiled lobster and begin to peel off. 

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"There's really nothing to support the use of borax in humans for inflammation, oxidative stress reduction, or anything like that," Johnson-Arbor explained. 

As health misinformation on TikTok spreads, many medical professionals have felt obligated to warn users, both on and off the platform, about the hazards of these so-called hacks and alternatives.

Johnson-Arbor stated last month that she authored an article warning about berberine, a nutritional supplement for weight loss that some TikTok users called "nature's Ozempic," but which is known to cause gastrointestinal problems.

Similarly, some social media hype surrounding the weight-gain vitamin apetamin has indicated that it can make people "slim-thick," meaning they will have a narrow waist and a huge rear. However, it contains an antihistamine, and the FDA has warned that apetamin is illegally imported and may induce dizziness, tiredness, irregular heartbeat, and liver damage.

Then there's the craze of inhaling smelling salts, popularised on TikTok by a firm called Nose Slap, which can be deadly if done wrong or for an extended period, and the buzzy PRIME energy drink, which has a caffeine level of about six Coca-Cola cans.

On Friday, a TikTok spokesman waited to respond to a request for comment. The site recommends combating misinformation in its community guidelines, which it claims is enforced using "a combination of technology and moderation teams."

"If fact-checkers determine content to be false and we deem it to be in violation of our policies, we may remove the video from our platform or make the video ineligible for recommendation into For You feeds," TikTok states in its terms and conditions.

According to Wendy Stephan, an epidemiologist with the Florida Poison Information Centre, people are enticed by these types of health fads. Prescription medications might be pricey or in short supply, and people can only sometimes obtain appointments with doctors immediately away, so many people opt for quick, inexpensive remedies, she says. 

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According to Stephan, on TikTok, producers' advice seems reasonable and is accompanied by entertaining visuals. "I can see how people find it appealing when someone who appears very personable and credible tells you that 'this worked for me, and it's great,'" she added. She did, however, emphasise that the authors of fake health videos "are also making money from these posts — they're getting a lot of eyeballs."

And, of course, disinformation concerning personal health can be deadly, Stephan added. "We've seen deaths linked to borax." It's extremely unlikely, yet it's possible. "This is not a harmless substance," she stated.

According to Johnson-Arbor, some social media trends result from misinterpreting scientific studies. In the instance of borax, some TikTok creators quoted the claim of one researcher that boron is "an essential nutrient for healthy bones and joints."

According to Johnson-Arbor, health misinformation on social media frequently revolves around the same few themes.

"Everybody wants to have better sleep," she said, in addition to losing weight and looking better. "Everyone wants to live a longer life. Everyone wants to have less inflammation." To combat disinformation, according to Stephan, poison centres frequently create their social media postings, but "we don't have the traction that a lot of these influencers do." 

Neither do most physicians, who lack the time and resources to wage a campaign against harmful viral trends. Nonetheless, a few people have taken it upon themselves to speak out. 

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Dr Meghan Martin, a paediatric emergency care physician and TikTok health educator said she strives to use clear, jargon-free language in her videos warning audiences of misguided trends.

"I also believe it is critical not to attack others. "I want to be level-headed, even-keeled, and address things authentically, nonjudgmentally," she remarked.

Carlo Ledesma, a medical laboratory technician who occasionally offers his knowledge on TikTok, said he started seeing videos of individuals drinking borax earlier this year.

He captioned a TikTok in April, "Just please do not ingest this!" He felt that warning people about the dangers of borax was an essential public service.

"This app contains children. There are parents who are not medical professionals watching this," Ledesma said, adding, "As a medical professional, we swore an oath to protect the interests of the greater good."

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